Door safety guard constructions



June 16, 1964 N. LEVENBERG 3,137,042

DOOR SAFETY GUARD CONSTRUCTIONS Filed Jan. 22, 1962 invention.

.s,1s7,042 HOUR SAFETY GUARD CGNSTRUCTIGNS Nat-Levenherg, 2 Windsor Place, Lynhroolr, NY.

Filed .Ian. 22, 1962, Ser. No. 167,565

This invention relates" generally to doors and more particularly to safety door guards for glass doors mounted on hinges. V r

Because of their attractive appearance, and because of i improvements in the tempering thereof, glass doors, particularly at the entrances of buildings, have come into wide use. In order to better support the same, it is usual to mount such doors so that they pivot about a vertical axis which is spaced inward from one vertical edge (the hinge edge) of the door. When such a door is opened a substantial space occurs between the hinge edge of the door and the nearest edge of the building opening. Into this space it is possible to. place a foot or a hand, which,

'Itis therefore among the principal objects of the present invention to provide door safety "guard construction which will prevent accidental injury of the types described above.

' Another object of the present invention is the provision of structure which will not take away from the'normal appearanceand attractiveness of the glass door on which it is used. 1 ,7

Anotherobject of the present invention is to provide a safety door guard which can be installed'for operation with doorsi'which are-already in use, and which will require a minimum of service and repair.

A still further object herein is to provide structure as described which is of simple fool-proof construction, and

low incost of production'so that the same may have a consequent wide distribution and use. I I These objects and other incidental ends and advantages willmore fully. appear in the progress of this disclosure and .be pointed, out in the appended claims. I

In "the-drawings, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several viewsi FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a first embodiment of the invention with a door ina halfopened position.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged horizontalsectional view. as seen'from the plane 2,2 in FIGURE 1.

" United States Patent posed. a I The guard element 22 is preferably composed of thin and it is in this "ice may comprise a door 12, upper and lower door hinges 14 and 16, a door frame 18, a threshold 20, a guard element 22, guide means 24, and mounting means 26.

The door 12 may be. of any desired construction, and althoughmy invention is highly useful in connection with glass doors, it will alsobe useful with non-glass'or partially glass doors where an opening is formed between the hinge edge 28 and the frame 18 when the door is opened, As willv be understood bythose skilled inthe art, various types of door "supporting'hinges may be used, and I have shown by way of example hinges l4 and 16 consisting of pins which engage the upper horizontal door frame memberfiil with the upper edge 32, and the threshold 26 with the lower edge 34. The door 12 is normally urged to a closed position by a door checkS 0on cealed by the threshold 20 and acting on the door through the pin 16. The free or swinging edge 38 of door 12 lies in juxtaposition with the vertical frame member 49, and the hinge edge 28'lies opposite vertical framemember 42 when the door is closed, leaving usually a small space,

strong material. 'Where the guard element is used with a glass door, it is'preferable to have the guard element transparent, in which case I fabricate it of transparent synthetic resin'such as methyl methacrylate, cellulose acetate, rigid polyvinyl chloride, or the like. The shape, size and arrangement of' the guard element should be considered in connection with the drawings. In thickmess it shouldsubstantially be equal to the-width of the space between the hingeedge 28 of the door and the frame element 42 so that it may have'a sliding fit therebetween. The height of the guard element is slightly less than the distance between the threshold 20 and the under surface of the frame member 39, so that it' may shift vertically. The body of the" guard element-22 is in the the guard element and have angularly converging walls FIGURE '3' is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view as seen from the plane 33 in FIGURE 2.

. FIGURE 4 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 3 but with the parts shown in the position they occupy door is closed.

when the FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View as seen from the plane 5- 5 in FIGURE 4.

49 so that they may ride on the conical rollers 50 ro'tatab1y mountedon the screws 51 whicli are engaged in the frame member42 (FIGURE 5).- v

At rest, thegu'a'rd ele'ment'willbe disposed in its lowermost and centered position (FIGURE 4), and it will seek this position due to the action of gravity. Wherethe material 'of which the guard element 22 is composed is of relatively light weight, it may be urged to the centered lower position by the action of a-spring 52 exerting pressure between the frame member 30 and the upper edge 54 .ofelement 22 upon which it has a sliding contact. The i lengthof theslots 48 in each direction from center is FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view corresponding to FIGURE 4 but showing second embodiment of the FIGURE 7 FIGURE 8 is' a fragmentary 'schematlc horizontal seca Turning to the firstembodimentfof the invention, gen- ..erally illustrated in FIGURES lto 4, inclusive, the construction, generally indicated by reference, character '10,-

is a fragmentary vertical sectional view corresponding to-FIGURE 6 but showing the parts in a 7 position when'the' door is partially open.

determined to coincide with the amount of travel of the guard necessary to accommodate the swing in each direction ofthe door 12. In the example givenhere, the door islimited by the check 36 to in each direction from the closed position.

2), the hinge edge 28 will engage the inner surface of the projection or flange 44 and will pull the guard element 22 around with it until, when the door has passed through 90, it and the guardelement will occupy-the positions space that the guard element 22 is dis- 7 3 shown in the full lines in FIGURE 2. When the door is released it swings closed and the guard returns to its starting centered position. When the door is swung in the direction of the arrow 58, since the parts are symmetrical the same mode of operation will occur in the opposite direction.

Turning now to the second embodiment of the invention, illustrated in FIGURES 6 to 8, inclusive, for the purpose of avoiding needless repetition certain of the parts corresponding to the prior described embodiment are given the same reference characters with the addition of the prefix 2.

The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment principally in that the guard element 222 is not self-centering but is free riding, normally being moved only in a horizontal plane by the door 212. This is accomplished by having the slots 248 horizontal and straight.

Assuming the guard element to be centered as shown by the full lines in FIGURE 8, movement of the door 212 in the direction of arrow 254 will, at approximately 45 displacement, cause engagement of the hinge edge 228 with the flange 244 and further movement of the door in the same direction will pull the guard element around to the dash-dot position indicated in FIGURE 8. Here it will stay until the door closes, and until the door is opened in the opposite direction (the arrow 258) where the above described operation will occur in the opposite direction, finally reaching the dash-double-dot line position in FIGURE 8. c

In the third embodiment, illustrated in FIGURE 9, here again certain corresponding parts are given the same reference characters with the prefix 3.

' The third differs from the second embodiment principally in that guide slots like slots 248 are absent, and instead the guide means takes the form of a pair of guides 360 located at the undersurface of the top frame member and the upper surface of the threshold 320. Only the bottom one is shown, but they are both identical. Guides 360 have a curved body 361, the inwardly exposed concave face of which conforms to the convex surface of the guard element 322, and guides 360 have a rotatable roller 362 which bears against the inner concave surface of the guard element 322. I

The body 361 is secured to the inner face of the vertical frame member 342 while the roller 362 is mounted on the threshold 320. p In the third embodiment, the guard element may therefore present a clear, uniform, unobstructed appearance in keeping wih the door it serves.

As seen in FIGURE9, there may besecured to the concave surface of the guard element 322 an elongated piece of weather-stripping 363 composed of suitable material such as felt or nylon plush or velvet. v I wish it to be understood that I do not consider'the invention limited to the exact details of structure shown and set forth in this specification, for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

I claim:

1. Door safety guard construction, comprising: a. door frame; a door having front and rear surfaces; means to pivotally mount the door for movement about an axis spaced from said frame whereby a space is produced between the hinge edge of the door and said frame when the door is opened; guide means connected to said frame; a guard element disposed between said frame and said hinge edge, and movably mounted on said guide means, said guard element being shiftable within said guide means upon engagement therewith by said front or rear surfaces of said door; and means on said guard element engageable by said door at predetermined displacements of said door.

2. Structure as claimed in claim 1, in which the guide means are in the form of a projection extending from said frame towards said door, and the guard element has a slot into which said projection extends.

3. Structure as claimed in claim 1, in which the guide means are in the form of a projection extending from said frame towards said door, and the guard element has an inverted V-shaped slot into which said projection extends, whereby when unaffected by the position of said door, the guard element returns to its normal centralized position. 4. Structure as claimed in claim 1, in which the guide means are in the form of a projection extending from said frame towards said door, and the guard element has a horizontally-disposed slotinto which said projection extends, said guard element remaining in displaced positions thereof until moved by said door.

5. Structure as claimed in claim 1, in which the guide means are in the form of a body connected to the frame, and having a curvate'surface conforming to the shape of the outer surface of the guard element.

6.' Structure as claimed in claim 1, in which the guide References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,619,689 Parrott Dec. 2, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 967,599

France ,Mar. 29, 1950 

1. DOOR SAFETY GUARD CONSTRUCTION, COMPRISING: A DOOR FRAME; A DOOR HAVING FRONT AND REAR SURFACES; MEANS TO PIVOTALLY MOUNT THE DOOR FOR MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS SPACED FROM SAID FRAME WHEREBY A SPACE IS PRODUCED BETWEEN THE HINGE EDGE OF THE DOOR AND SAID FRAME WHEN THE DOOR IS OPENED; GUIDE MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID FRAME; A GUARD ELEMENT DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID FRAME AND SAID HINGE 